Tamil Tigers ruin Sri Lanka military plans: observers

Fri, 26 October 2007 0:51:17 LBO >> Politics
Devastating Blow
By Amal Jayasinghe
Tamil Tigers ruin Sri Lanka military plans: observers

COLOMBO, Oct 25, 2007 (AFP) - Tamil Tiger rebels have dealt a serious blow to Sri Lanka's intelligence gathering with a devastating suicide attack that destroyed virtually its entire fleet of spy planes, observers said Thursday. Tiger guerrillas, who were widely regarded as being on the defensive, turned the tables Monday with a suicide strike that wiped out the government surveillance aircraft, which included four Israeli-made drones.
Sri Lanka's air force, after initially denying that any damage was caused to their multi-million-dollar spy fleet, admitted that it lost eight aircraft, including a twin-turbo prop Beechcraft surveillance plane.
The spy aircraft had been the secret behind the military's success in attacking a fleet of Tamil Tiger boats and gun-running ships, military sources said.
But analysts said this week's Tiger attack served almost as an equaliser in the shifting battlefield fortunes, as Sri Lanka's navy depends on the air force for maritime aerial reconnaissance and to provide cover for naval convoys.
"The loss of Mi-24 helicopter gunships is something that the air force can absorb without too much trouble, but it is difficult to manage without the air surveillance capability," said defence analyst Namal Perera.
He said the main strike capability of the air force -- with its fleet of Russian MiG-27 and Israeli Kfir jets -- remained intact, but cautioned it would be handicapped without quality intelligence on rebel targets.
A former head of India's external intelligence agency, B. Raman, called the damage sustained by Sri Lanka's air force "considerable" and said it "reduces its capability for intelligence collection for air and naval operations."
Supersonic fighter jets, which were parked elsewhere and unaffected by Monday's guerrilla attack, carried out bombings against the Tigers for a second straight day Thursday in a show of defiance, officials said.
Sri Lanka's top defence official, Gotabhaya Rajapakse, vowed Wednesday to press ahead with planned military action against the Tamil Tigers' de facto mini-state in the north of the island, but observers were sceptical.
"Monsoon rains and shortages of manpower were already a factor and this latest attack has only compounded the problems," said a senior military officer who declined to be named.
"If we set our mind to it, we can achieve the objective" of taking the rebel political headquarters of Kilinochchi," the officer said. "The question is what price are we prepared to pay for it."
Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake said the Tigers staged the audacious attack against the Anuradhapura base, 210 kilometres (130 miles) north of the capital Colombo, due to desperation after recent territorial losses.
"The LTTE tried with the attack launched on the 22nd of October to build the so-called prestige at the maximum level which they lost during the last few months," he told parliament on Wednesday.
Raman, who is now director of the Institute For Topical Studies in India, described the Tiger attack as retaliation for recent government operations against rebel transport ships and air strikes.
"It once again underlines the LTTE's reputation as an organisation with a tremendous tenacity of purpose, grit and sophistication in thinking and planning," he wrote on the OutlookIndia.com website.
The Tigers staged a similar assault on another air base in 2001, devastating a fleet of jet fighters, which pushed Sri Lanka to resume peace talks with the guerrillas the following year. Those talks broke down last year.

Sri Lanka prints Rs. 15.9 billion in the first three months of this year Thursday, October 25, 2007, 11:06 GMT, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.

Oct 25, Colombo: Central Bank of Sri Lanka issued new currency to the value of Rs. 15.9 billion within the first three months of this year, said Chief Government Whip Jeyaraj Fernandopulle at the parliament answering a question posed by People’s Liberation Front (JVP) MP Anura Kumara Disanayaka.
According to the Minister Rs. 24.8 billion was printed last year and Rs. 16.6 billion in 2005.
However, the issue of money had decreased by 12.9 percent in the second quarter, as could be expected, the Minister said

Rebel bus bomb attack kills 6 navy personnel in southern Sri Lanka,
rebels say AP - Friday, October 26COLOMBO, Sri Lanka -

Separatist Tamil rebels said their fighters killed six navy personnel in a rare attack in southern Sri Lanka on Thursday. In a statement e-mailed to the Associated Press, the rebels claimed they attacked a bus carrying 25 sailors, killing six of them and wounding another 12, in the village of Tissamaharam in the southern district of Hambantota.
But navy spokesman Cmdr. D.K.P. Dassanayake denied the rebels' claim.
Most of Sri Lanka's decades-long civil war has been confined to northern and eastern provinces.

Fri, 26 October 2007 0:58:10 LBO >> Politics
Terror Funds
Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger dodge financial regulators
Oct 25, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels have developed a sophisticated international system to transfer funds for their weapons procurement without being detected by financial regulators, a counter-terrorism expert told a recent conference in Colombo. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) operates a "hub and spoke" network for money transfer modalities, Shanaka Jayasekara said at the International Conference on Countering Terrorism.
He said studies have identified one financial network known as the 'Sana Group' which has one principal controller and eight 'trust-managers' located in Europe, North America and South East Asia.
The leadership in Kilinochchi, a rebel-held town in northern Sri Lanka, stipulates financial targets that each country representative and the finance unit need to achieve, Jayasekara said.
The funds apportioned for procurement purposes are relocated to designated trust managers and held in safe locations.
"These transfers take place using several mediums such as banks, human cash couriers and over invoicing import-export transactions," he said.
"The trust-managers place the funds in multiple forms of investment to avoid detection by regulatory authorities."
He said it is believed the trust-managers do not know each other.
"Funds are transferred to multiple locations in non-detectable blocks," Jayasekara said.
Members of the procurement team consolidate the multiple receipts, most often in a south east Asian country, where the rebels are known to buy their arms.
"The LTTE has developed a most sophisticated infrastructure for fund raising and money transfer operations compared to other terrorist groups," Jayasekara said.
"The intent of the LTTE is to progress towards systems that have a stable income generation capability, giving the LTTE the advantage of stability in projected incomes and procurement planning."

Only seven aircraft destroyed in Monday's attack - PM
Uditha Kumarasinghe, Rajmi Manatunga and Irangika Range

Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickramanayake yesterday categorically denying certain statements by some UNP Parliamentarians, said only seven aircraft at the Anuradhapura Air Force base have been destroyed in Monday's LTTE attack.
Prime Minister The Prime Minister making a special statement in Parliament said among the seven air craft destroyed are one MI-24 helicopter, one Beechcraft, three PT-6 aircraft or a K-8 air craft and one MI-17 helicopter. A MI-24 helicopter was damaged in this attack.
In addition, another Bell 212 helicopter crashed on Monday. As a result, two Air Force pilots and two officers died. An investigation is being conducted into this incident.
"This is the truth. We do not have anything to hide. At present, the entire Anuradhapura area has returned to normality.
Armed Forces are conducting further operations in Anuradhapura," he said. The Prime Minister said this is not a setback faced by the Armed Forces.
"The Armed Forces will take up this incident as a lesson for their future activities," he said.
Prime minister Wickramanayake said: "We should not forget that our Armed Forces have achieved so many victories during the past few months. I would like to ask this August assembly, do we forget these victories achieved by our Armed Forces.
"Can we accuse the Heads of the Armed Forces and Security Forces due to this trivial set back. It is a childish act, if somebody says that terrorism can be defeated by the Defence Secretary or the Air Force Commander resigning," he said. Wickramanayake said it is very evident that most democratic States have banned the LTTE.
This has affected the LTTE. The LTTE which has faced severe setback in the East and Wanni, launched this cowardly attack to the Anuradhapura Air Force base to build up their collapsed war mentality and get international attention, he said.
The LTTE through such incidents have shown to the world that they will never appear for the rights of Tamil community, the Prime Minister said.
According to the Premier, nearly 20 LTTE terrorists have participated in this attack. "However our war heroes retaliated to this LTTE attack by even sacrificing their lives. They prevented a massive damage planned by the LTTE.
When this attack was going on, two LTTE aircraft have made an air attack to the Air Force base. Our Armed Forces killed 20 LTTE cadres within the camp. Later, curfew was imposed in Anuradhapura on Monday and lifted in the evening," Wickramanayake said.
"Reports have confirmed that LTTE terrorists planning to join this attack by land had been killed by the Armed Forces. This clearly indicates the moral of our Armed Forces have not declined," he said.
The Prime Minister said terrorism can only be defeated by uniting all segments irrespective of narrow political objectives.
The Prime Minister asked as long as the LTTE was engaged in such brutal activities, how the Government could place any confidence on peace or negotiations with the LTTE. The Government never launched any war. At every occasion where the LTTE attacked the Armed Forces, the Government had to launch counter attacks.
Today all people in the East who earlier lived like the prisoners of the LTTE, have been able to get about their lives freely with the introduction of Eastern Reawakening programme, he said. "At this need of hour I make an open appeal to all segments to join hands with the Government to defeat terrorism. As politicians we should not try to fish in troubled waters. All of our responsibility is to free our country from this destruction," he said.
"We should have a country to do politics. Therefore it is essential to unite everybody to safeguard the country."
The Prime Minister also extended the honour of the nation to all war heroes who sacrificed their lives at the Anuradhapura attack.
He also wished speedy recovery to soldiers injured in this attack.